A Strange Request
by ArtisteFish
Summary: It's been a while since Misty traveled with Ash and Brock, and she's been missing the life of adventure; but one Friday night appointment to babysit turns into a little more adventure than she had bargained for. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

A Strange Request: Chapter 1

Misty sighed.

Taking a quick glance at her still silent telephone, she dropped her chin onto her hand. 'Great', she thought dejectedly, 'another Friday wasted'.

Ever since she had returned home to the Cerulean City Gym, Misty had been helping out with the finances by taking on jobs, and for the past few months, that job had been babysitting. It reminded her of little Togepi with whom she had parted all those years ago.

She was fairly successful at it, with the help of some advertising in the phone book and on fliers, and rather enjoyed the task. Friday's were usually her busiest day. Sometimes she had several appointments, mostly from young parents looking to get some alone time, but so far she hadn't had any calls whatsoever.

It was late in the afternoon, and most of her appointments would already have been set by now.

Being cooped up in her house without anyone but her ditzy sisters to talk to was making her a little stir-crazy. She had become so accustomed to being active and productive everyday.

She smiled a little, remembering the crazy things that used to happen during her travels with Ash and Brock.

"I wonder what happened to those days?" she asked out loud. 'Oh, yeah, that's it…' she thought, grimacing, 'Ash went and won in the Pokemon League, and finally had enough money to… to buy me a new bike…'

Misty allowed herself a sad chuckle at that. That pathetic excuse had really come back to bite her.

Hard.

Since they had gone their separate ways, Misty had had hardly any contact with the young Pokemon Master, aside from an occasional call updating her on his latest achievements.

Even then, it just wasn't… the same anymore.

It hadn't been for quite a while.

Especially since… since _they_ weren't showing up anymore.

They hadn't been for a long time. It had been three whole years since she had even heard of them. Without the constant interruptions and frequent battles and strange mishaps, her life just wasn't as interesting.

Even as she thought about it, Misty was astonished to discover that… life was _boring_ without Team Rocket.

Sure, she had always been the first to question their motives, and maybe she had been a little less than civil to them on occasion, but… she knew they weren't all bad.

On several occasions they had shown true character, and it was during those times that Misty tried to help them succeed. But now it seemed they had vanished off the face of the earth completely.

It was strange to realize that somehow over the years, Misty had come to consider them – however distantly – as friends.

After another hour of reading and waiting by the phone, Misty was about to give up when the phone started ringing.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, jumping off the couch and grabbing the receiver.

"Hello!" she chirped enthusiastically.

There was a moments pause, then a soft female voice spoke "…h- hello? Is, uh, Misty there?"

"This is she!"

"Oh… um, you're the one with the babysitting service, right?"

"Yes, would you like to schedule an appointment?"

There were a few garbled sounds on the other end, as if the caller was unsure of how to respond.

"Um, yeah… for tonight. Uh, around 6 o'clock."

"Sure thing! Just give me the address and I'll be over as soon as I can! Oh, and could I get your name please?"

The person on the other end seemed a little taken aback. After a few moments pause, the woman answered quietly, "Uh… Morgan. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan."

After jotting down the address and phone number of the home, Misty glanced at the clock, and noticed she had a half an hour to get there.

'Well, this certainly is last minute, but hey, at least I got a job!'

She hurried around the home she shared with her sisters, grabbing up books, toys, snacks, and other babysitting necessities, and headed out the door.

Strapping her bulging bag to her new bike, Misty couldn't help but take a moment to gaze at the shiny red contraption, her parting gift from a dear friend…. Shaking her head to clear the bittersweet memories, Misty jumped on her bike and sped off to her appointment. 

As she neared her destination, Misty noticed she was still about five minutes early, so she slowed her pace and took an opportunity to examine the surrounding neighborhood.

It was quaint and cute, with little cookie-cutter houses complete with a yard and a fence and a Growlithe.

'Now all we need is the 1 and a half kids.' Misty thought dryly.

In an area nice as this, she was bound to get some stuck-up snobby brat who would only want to show off and would refuse to do anything improper: like play.

This should be fun.

Misty finally arrived at the address. The house before her was probably the prettiest one on the block. With its blue trim and white picket fence, it looked straight out of a Home&Gardens magazine.

'Well, maybe they're the nice kind of rich people and will double my pay…. most likely not.'

Unlatching the fence gate, Misty made her way down the cobblestone path and was just about to ring the doorbell on the side of the house, when all of a sudden the front door flew open and out ran a very horrified looking meowth.

Misty barely had time to register the fact that the cat was running on its hind legs when a purple-haired little girl came charging out after it, arms out-stretched.

"Wait Meowf! Come back! We habn't finished p'aying Pokamon twainews!" The little girl called in a high-pitched voice.

The Pokemon ignored her and ran until it reached the fence.

Seeing as it had no way out from there, the Meowth desperately started looking about for a means of escape, but it was no use.

The girl advanced on the poor pokemon, her purple pig-tails dancing merrily behind her as she closed in on the cat. It stared in terror at the little girl, who couldn't have been more than 3 years old, and promptly shielded its head with its paws; at which the girl pulled a mallet out of seemingly nowhere and bopped him on the head.

"MEOWCH!" The cat cried, and the little girl squealed in delight as she scooped up the meowth and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Der! Now I'be caught you!"

Misty looked on, her eye twitching as she watched the meowth struggle to free itself while the girl just held tighter.

"Heeey, get offa me kid! Youse's stranglin' me-owth!"

Misty gasped. The meowth just talked!

And with a start Misty realized: it wasn't just any Meowth, it was Team Rocket's Meowth!

Out of habit, Misty was about to shout out a warning to the little girl about the thieving Pokemon, but just as she was about to open her mouth, the cat chanced to look over the little girl's shoulder, noticing Misty for the first time since she had arrived.

"Daaaaaah! Twoipette!"

For a moment she was startled, but out of instinct went straight into attack mode.

"What are you doing here Meowth? Trying to trick that little girl into giving you her Pokemon?"

Meowth looked confused for a moment, then shot back "Foist of all, I should be askin' you da very same ting! I live here! And does 'dis goil really look old enough ta' have Pokemon?"

"Uh… he-heh… I guess not. Um, … I'm supposed to be babysitting… I got a call…" she said awkwardly, embarrassed at her outburst. Then a thought struck her.

"Wait… you live here? But… how? Hm… maybe I got the wrong house?"

Meowth gave her an odd look. "Who was it that called you, twoipette?"

Misty rifled a little at the nickname, but answered simply "I didn't get her first name. She just said 'Mr. and Mrs. Morgan' and gave me the address."

To her surprise, Meowth laughed out loud at this.

"Yeah, you're at 'da right house all right! Boy, does two must be pretty desperate ta' call you!"

Misty glared at the Pokemon.

"I'll have you know that I'm a very good babysitter Meowth!"

The cat held up his paws defensively.

"Oh I ain't questionin' you're abilities goily, ah'm just sayin'… well, you'll see. Why don't ya come on inside and I'll introduce ya? Heh-heh!"

Following Meowth through the front door, Misty took a long look at the inside of the house… and blanched.

It was a MESS!

Books and newspapers were scattered across the floor, dishes piled high on every available surface, and childrens toys littered the room.

'Well, the outside may look perfect' Misty thought in disgust, 'but the inside is a disaster!'

Meowth must have seen her horrified expression, because he let out a sheepish laugh, putting a paw behind his head.

"Sorry… we ain't really had a chance ta clean up yet!"

Feeling somewhat bad for embarrassing the pokemon, Misty forced on a smile and, changing the subject, asked, "So, Meowth… What kind of people live here anyway? I mean, where are this little girl's parents?"

"Oh, you'll meet 'em soon enough! And by 'da way, 'dis is Rose!" Meowth said, pointing to little Rose, who was hiding in the doorway, having followed Meowth and the stranger inside. Misty turned and knelt down to Rose's level, giving her a sweet smile which calmed the little girl down considerably.

"Hi there Rose, my name's Misty!"

Rose looked down shyly, and then smiled back. "Hi Missy!"

Misty smiled warmly. "You know, you have such a pretty name, Rose!"

The child brightened considerably at this.

"Tank you! My mommy and daddy named me Rose becuz dey bof' love roses! See?"

Rose pointed out the open door, and Misty could indeed see the dozens of rose bushes lining the house and walkway, each one sporting a different colored bulb.

Misty smiled at the proud look on the little girls face as she admired the elegant flowers, when a thought struck her, and she wondered why she hadn't thought about it earlier.

"Hey Meowth," she said cautiously, and the Pokemon turned to look at her inquisitively. "Whatever happened to the other two? Why aren't you with Team Rocket?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, it was evident she'd said something wrong.

Meowth hissed shrilly, lifting a paw to his mouth to shush her, his eyes wide.

Rose looked horrified and covered her face with her purple pigtails.

"Eee! Not Team Rocket! Don't mention them! They'we bad!"

With surprising speed she went over and scooped Meowth off the floor, squeezing the cat so hard he was gasping for breath.

"I won't let dem take you 'way! I won't!"

Her grip loosened as her eyes shut tight and large tears began to race down her cheeks.

The outburst had come on so suddenly that Misty had no time to react, but now she carefully crouched down again next to Rose and tried to place a hand on the little girls shoulder.

This turned out to be a bad move as Rose jumped roughly and fell to a heap on the floor, sobbing and rubbing her eyes as Meowth, now recovered from the chokehold, went over to her and wrapped his furry arms around her.

"Hey, it's okay little Rosie! Dey're not here! We're safe!" The cat turned from the still crying girl to Misty with an angry expression, saying in a low voice "Now look what ya done!"

Misty was flustered and exasperated, wanting to help but not knowing how.

What on Earth had Team Rocket done to her? They hadn't seemed _that_ bad! She needed an explanation!

But before she could even open her mouth to ask for one, there was a thundering above her as someone pounded across an upstairs hall and down a staircase to her left.

Even as Misty and Meowth looked for the source of the sound, a figure shot across the room and gently picked the little girl up off the floor.

She struggled for a moment before noticing who was holding her, and then flung herself onto the person with a strangled cry of "Daddy!"

'So', thought Misty, 'this is her father!' He was tall and thin, looking to be in his late twenties, and dressed in a dark blue, pressed suit with a loose tie draped over his neck. His face was handsome, though etched with concern over the little crying girl, and his light blue hair hung around his face just above his shoulders.

It took a moment for Misty's brain to catch up with her eyes, but once they did she fell back in shock, recognizing Roses father to be none other than James of Team Rocket.

James cradled the little girl as her sobs subsided, and turned a harsh look at Meowth.

"Alright, what happened?" he said sternly, his posh voice sounding just as it had the last time Misty remembered hearing it; "Let slip 'those words" did you?"

Meowth glared up at the man.

"Oh it's always me-owth's fault idn it? Well for your infa'mation Jimmy-boy, it wadn't me dis time! It was HER!"

The cat Pokemon pointed and accusing paw at Misty, who was trying to casually back herself into a corner and away from all of them.

James looked at who the cat was pointing to and stood dumbstruck as recognition flitted across his eyes.

Still staring in horror at a very confused and emabarassed Misty, he turned his head slightly towards the stairs and called loudly "Uh, Dearest! The uh… Babysitter is here."

"WHAT!"

The harsh cry from upstairs was followed by a series of bangings and crashing as another pair of feet thundered down the stairs, all the while yelling

"WHY did no one TELL me! She's not even supposed to BE here yet!"

Hardly daring to believe her ears, Misty strained almost eagerly to see just who was coming down the stairs, even though she knew who it would be.

She wasn't at all prepared however for the sight that met her eyes, as a woman with big, curled red hair in a fussy pink gown barreled down the stairs and across the room to glare at everyone in turn.

"I TOLD you I would greet her MYSELF! ARGH!"

She turned away and huffed, her red curls bouncing.

"You weren't supposed to know…" she whispered angrily.

And Misty noticed something was off – there was no presumptuous attitude or Southern accent in that voice to match the curls and bows.

And with a sudden jolt her tension released and she laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the whole room back to her.

"Phew!" she laughed, catching her breath, "You really threw me! For a second there I was afraid you'd actually married Jessiebelle!"

The woman stared at Misty for a moment, before putting on an affronted look and turning slightly, her curls bouncing.

"Well naturally you would think that," she drawled, "as you should already be familiar with my exceptional skills at disguises!"

Meowth rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and da fact dat youse two look exactly alike had notin' ta do widit."

She turned to glower at him, and suddenly the cat Pokemon was sent hurtling across the room to land in a ratty armchair.

"Shut up Cat!"

"Jessie, temper!" James admonished lightly, but the little girl in his arms was clapping and giggling happily, apparently amused at Meowth's acrobatic feats.

Jessie smiled softly, a look Misty couldn't recall ever seeing on her before, and reached out for the little girl, taking her in her arms and rocking her gently.

"Oh, Uncle Meowth is fine, huh Rosie?"

Rose giggled even more.

By this time Meowth had made his way back over and jumped up on Jessies shoulder, giving Rose an imploring look.

"Rosie, how could youse toin on me-owth like dat?"

He flopped dramatically onto Jessie's shoulder, rivers of fake tears running down his fur. "I taught I was ya favorite Pokemon in da woild!"

Rose's giggle stopped, and her face developed an adorable pout. Reaching over, she grabbed the cat and cuddled him close.

"Aw, I still wuv you Meowf! I'm sowwy!"

Meowth looked embarrassed as she placed a little kiss on his cheek, saying "Alright, alright! I forgive ya already! Enough wit da mushy stuff!"

Jessie, James and Rose all laughed happily at the cat, and Misty watched, wondering how these three could have possibly changed so much in just a few years.

'Then again,' she noted, watching the happy family, 'maybe they were always like this, on the inside….'

This was certainly shaping up to be one of her stranger appointments.

* * *

><p>*Author's Note:<p>

This is actually one of my older fanfics, but I often go back and fix old ones I've done, so although I wrote this years ago it's been getting constant updates.

Not sure when the next chapter will be out though. I have ideas, I just haven't gotten around to writing them yet.

If people like this however and respond positively, I may find the drive I need to get the rest of it out! So please, review or fave!

**And yes, this is sort of an alternate Pokemon universe where Team Rocket finally came to their senses and got hitched around the time Misty left; because frankly, that's when I stopped watching the show as a kid, and the seasons prior to that are the only ones I watch now. Sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

A Strange Request Ch.2

* * *

><p>"Okay, so explain this to me," Misty began, putting a finger to her temple as she thought, "You two –" she gestured across the table she was seated at to Jessie and James, "stopped chasing after us because you got married and had a baby. And at the moment, you" she moved her gaze to Jessie "are pretending to be his crazy fiancé who he hates."<p>

Her gaze and pointing finger had moved to target James, who sat staring warily at their guest.

"Uh… right."

"Why?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" Jessie said haughtily, "So we could get his money!"

Misty balked at her.

"You got married and had a kid just for his money?!"

Jessie looked outraged.

"Of course not! We got married because we're in love. I'm dressed as his idiot fiancé for the money."

At this Misty simply stared, not quite getting how all of these parts fit together.

Jessie rolled her eyes at Misty's apparent lack of comprehension, picking up and cuddling Rose while she did so, and confusing Misty even more with her simultaneous bad attitude and maternal behavior. "It's simple. When we decided to get married we were still… well, destitute. We both wanted to live normal lives and eventually start a family, but we had too much of a record to get real jobs, so we decided to put our marriage to good use so to speak. James managed to trick Jessiebelle into leaving the country –"

"It was quite clever too!" James said, puffing his chest out in pride, "I just sent her postcards from different places, pretending I was there, and she went off chasing after me!"

"After that it wasn't hard to convince his parents I was Jessiebelle-"

"Are youse kiddin'?" Meowth shouted, "Ya nearly blew it piggin' out on the buffet! Not ta mention your complete lack of etiquette – MEOWCH!"

"Anyways," Jessie continued, while Meowth rubbed the sore spot on his head where her paper fan had collided, "we went through the ceremony with me pretending to be her, and just switched the marriage certificate with a fake after signing, so the fake one his parents saw says Jessiebelle, but the real one has my name! Then we got the money and were able to settle down and have little Rose!"

Jessie gave Rose an affectionate poke, and the toddler giggled happily.

"Of course, we couldn't shake my parents forever;" James continued, "we have an agreement with them that we have to visit for dinner once a month and check in – it's the only way we're able to keep getting money from them and live so far away - but… well, we can't take Rose. I'd rather not have my parents trying to 'make her proper' like they did to me, and… she kinda caused a catastrophe when we brought her as a baby, so… luckily they haven't bothered us about bringing her again."

Jessie smirked at James and bounced Rose on her knee, saying "She's got her mama's strength! It's not her fault everything in their mansion is extremely breakable!"

James looked over at the two lovingly and then continued "Even though we couldn't take Rose we still had to visit, so Meowth had been taking care of Rose for us while we were gone. That is…" he looked over at Jessie, who discretely returned his gaze from beneath her eyelashes, and continued, "until last month."

"Why?" Misty asked, intrigued by the unfolding drama and curious about the part she was supposed to play.

The two shared another glance, and Jessie looked down at Rose saying, "Rosie, why don't you go play with Uncle Meowth."

At that Meowth opened his mouth to protest, but a quick glare from Jessie shut him up.

"All right, all right. C'mon kiddo, you're wit' me!"

Rose glanced hesitantly between her mother and father, but a small smile from both convinced her that she was in no trouble, and so she happily pranced out of the room after Meowth.

Once she was gone, James leaned over the table, bringing his hand to his mouth as he whispered "Well last month, while we were out, Team Rocket attacked the house."

"WHAT?" Misty gasped, "But why would they attack other Team Rocket members?"

"Well we obviously didn't stay with Team Rocket after getting married!" Jessie said brusquely, "They don't really look on relationships too fondly, and bringing up a child in Team Rocket is out of the question."

Her face seemed to darken as she spoke, and Misty suspected that the woman before her was talking from experience.

James seemed to notice the change in his wife's mood, and tactfully took up the storytelling, saying "What really cinched it was Meowth leaving with us. It wasn't until after we'd gone that they realized how… unique he and his ability were, and the Boss ordered other Team Rocket members to take him back. The only reason we've been able to escape them for so long is that we've been going under the name 'Morgan', and everyone around thinks that Jessie is actually Jessiebelle. Not even Team Rocket knew about my past and my family since I was a runaway, so we were able to get away with it; but it seems that eventually we slipped up, because last month they came and raided the house while we were away."

By the end of his narrative James seemed visibly shaken, and Jessie reached over to lay a comforting hand on his arm, continuing "It was a good thing we didn't take our Pokemon with us. Rose was smart enough to go fetch them, and they were able to fight off the few grunts who broke in. They almost got Meowth though, and it really scared Rose. If it weren't for our Pokemon, well… you can see what they managed to do anyways."

She gestured to the surrounding room, and Misty looked once again at the house, this time seeing the mess for what it was.

From her place in the kitchen she could see the dining and living rooms, strewn with personal belongings and paraphernalia, all torn and upset, and the furniture was thrashed and burned, evidently from the battling that must have gone on between the intruders and the defending Pokemon.

No matter what she thought about Jessie and James, it made her sick to see such a thing happen to anyone.

"We probably should have cleaned a little more…" Jessie trailed, her eyes downcast as her personal pride surfaced.

"But we've been trying to lay low, and cleaning hasn't really been a priority, seeing as how we'll be leaving here soon." James finished for her, bringing an arm up to scratch the back of his head, not really knowing how to make the situation any better. "The problem is, we still have to visit my parents one more time before we can skip town – we need to get the rest of my money, or at least find a way to make sure we keep getting it, and honestly I think it's high time I took Growlie back. _This_ family needs him more than my parents do. And since we have to leave to see my parents one more time, we needed someone else here to watch Rosie."

Though most of her questions had now been answered, there was still something Misty didn't understand.

"Why me?"

James looked at her, apparently trying to figure it out himself, and started "Well actually, I don't really – "

"Because you'll protect her."

Both James and Misty turned to stare at Jessie, whose face had become dead serious as she stared straight into Misty's eyes.

The intensity was unnerving.

"I called you because I know you can protect Rose. You three twerps beat us hundreds of times over, and you never backed down or got scared. Arbok and Wheezing and Wobbufet will always do their best to protect this family, but when it comes to traitors, Team Rocket has no mercy. They won't stop at taking Meowth; they'll want revenge on all of us for daring to leave, and I won't let _anyone_ hurt my family and ruin the only real happiness I've ever had."

James stared at her, stunned by her words, and Misty could see in her eyes that every word she spoke tore at her pride, but she forced herself to keep going.

"I remember how you were with your Pokemon – with that Togepi; there's no one whom I'd trust more. Not even the twerp with the Pikachu. I know _you_ understand."

And in that moment, Misty _did_ understand.

Jessie wasn't talking about trusting her skill; she wasn't praising her on her superb training techniques or battle strategies, or even on her fiery temper.

She was talking to her as a woman; as a woman who had once cared for something as if it were her own child, who knew the kind of worry and sorrow, rage and passion that came from having something so dear to you threatened.

She was referring to the most basic of womanly instincts – of her need to defend a family and the power that allows her to do so.

The look she gave Misty was of one mother to another.

"Don't worry," Misty said, more confident than she had been in many years.

There was no question now about what she had to do.

"I'll protect her."

* * *

><p>*Author's Note:<p>

New chapter! Woohoooo! Seeing as it's been years since I started this story, I really wasn't sure I would ever finish it. Frankly I kinda forgot what I wanted to even happen in this. But the other day the rest of the story just hit me, so I was able to turn out another chapter! I'm not sure when the next one will be out, but this story does have a direction and a purpose, so I won't abandon it!


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